Opinion

Face to face with campaigning

Fundraising | Matt Goody | 1 Sep 2007

Is face-to-face campaigning just fundraising in disguise? This isn't really the point, argues Matt Goody. 

The public may have noticed that charities’ activity on the high street is changing. Until fairly recently, it was the territory of direct debit fundraising. However, in recent years, charities have begun using this arena for asking for things other than just a regular gift.

This seems to have upset some people. Interestingly though, not the media or the general public but people in the industry. One felt it was “just about lead generation for fundraising” (using Shelter as an example) while another described it as “an absolute antithesis of integrated fundraising”.The implication is that charities undertaking this activity don’t really need the campaigners. I can’t speak for every charity but that’s not the case here at Shelter.

Since the days of Ken Loach’s Cathy come Home, campaigning has been central to Shelter’s work. Over the years we’ve achieved notable legislative changes as a result. However, at the start of the decade, we realised that to meet our objectives of getting housing at the top of the political agenda, we also needed to engage at grassroots level. So a strategy was developed to get existing supporters and the public involved in our campaigns.

We recruit campaigners a number of ways, including on-line, inserts and cold mail. However, since 2004 our biggest channel has been face-to-face. In the last three years we’ve recruited more than 100,000 campaigners this way at events, festivals and in the street.

These campaigners have been a real asset to Shelter; they’ve written to MPs and ministers, turned up at events and even attended local authority planning meetings, playing a significant role in moving housing up the political agenda. 

F2F campaigning is now facing criticism because supporters recruited will be asked if they want to donate. Some people seem to think support for a charity should be compartmentalised and campaigning and donating must not be mixed.

But it doesn’t take more than a few seconds to realise how daft this is. Supporters want to engage with charities in many different ways – often at the same time – and don’t necessarily want to fit into a communication silo. Secondly supporters are an important asset and we’d be failing in our jobs if we didn’t seek to optimise the value of those relationships.

This approach has helped Shelter broaden its supporter base. In the past, only offering the opportunity to donate cash through direct mail meant most supporters on our database were 60+. Getting teams out onto the streets and festivals and engaging people with campaigning issues has helped us gain a more diverse, representative database of supporters.

This integrated approach not only benefits us in terms of recruitment but helps with retention too. For example, our research has shown that donors who engage in campaigns feel a greater affinity to the charity, and have a greater life time value too.

Finally, people say F2F campaigning is unregulated and a free for all. Unlike the criticisms above, this is difficult to refute and potentially far more damaging. Because the activity cuts across campaigning and fundraising, charity bodies have been dragging their feet and relunctant to get involved in regulation. In the meantime, understandably, confused local authorities have expressed concern about the lack of codes of practice and regulation for campaigners. If this lack of action continues much longer there is danger of a public backlash.

Thankfully the sector now seems to be moving in the right direction; the Institute of Fundraising has announced it is planning to amend the Fundraising Code of Practice for face-to-face fundraising so that it incorporates this activity, which is something the PFRA is keen to coordinate. Hopefully, this means the future of this valuable form of recruitment will be assured.

Matt Goody is head of direct marketing at Shelter

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